With my growing love for putting cocoa powder in everything, I have 2 cocoa infused recipes for you today! One is a recipe I made a few weeks ago, that is tweaked and now, a tad more delicious. The other is brand new!

First we have the balls. I tweaked this recipe with 2 new add-ins, and it’s even better than the original.

Pulse until mixed together. Do not over process! Scrape bowl once or twice.

When you can form a ball with the dough, it’s done!

Roll into balls or form into bars. Wrap in saran wrap and store in the fridge.

*They should hold together very easily and firm up in the fridge. If you’re having problems with them sticking, empty the contents out of your food processor and process 2 more dates. Add everything back in and pulse a few more times. If the mixture is too oily, empty the contents and process 3-4T more nuts. Then add everything back in and pulse a few more times.

*The coconut oil is not crucial for this to work. If you don’t want a coconut flavor, leave it out. Do not sub in other oil.

These are quite magical and you can’t taste the dates at all!

This next recipe was a valentine’s day treat for Chris! He loves peanut butter + dark chocolate but does not like Larabars. He hates the date-taste that all of them have. I completely masked that taste with this recipe!

When you process the mixture together, it will look a bit crumbly.

If it holds together easily, you’re good to go! If it’s too dry, empty the contents of the processor into a bowl. Process 2 more dates until very sticky, add the mixture back in and pulse a few times until combined.

I pressed these into bar form by making 1 giant ball and then rolling out in between saran wrap. I used a rolling pin + my hands, overtop of the saran, to get them into a large rectangular shape. Then I cut them to a typical bar size.

Cocoa Peanut Butter Energy Bars [makes 10-12 bars]

1c dry roasted peanuts, unsalted [unroasted peanuts will have a much milder flavor]

~10-12 medjool dates, pitted

2T unsweetened cocoa powder

1T creamy peanut butter

1t vanilla

1/4t fine sea salt

Process [in food processor, vita-mix, magic bullet, etc] nuts, until crumbly with some larger pieces. Be careful not to process to long.

Empty into a bowl.

Cut out pits in the dates by lightly slicing down the middle. Remove pits with fingers.

Process dates into small pieces, until very sticky. [measures to ~1/2c lightly packed]

Pulse until mixed together. Do not over process! Scrape bowl once or twice.

When you can form a ball with the dough, it’s done!

Roll into balls or form into bars. Wrap in saran wrap and store in the fridge.

*They should hold together very easily and firm up in the fridge. If you’re having problems with them sticking, empty the contents out of your food processor and process 2 more dates. Add everything back in and pulse a few more times. If the mixture is too oily, empty the contents and process 3-4T more nuts. Then add everything back in and pulse a few more times.

*This is a tutorial I did that shows how to form the the dough into bars.

These have a great texture and are packed with peanut butter flavor. The cocoa powder mellows out the sweetness from the dates. These bars + balls are great for keeping you full, giving you a boost of energy and satisfying your chocolate cravings.